Jack Ingram

Jack Ingram Interview Transcript.

(Jack talks about the way he believes the country music industry has been missing a huge age group between 21 and 35 years of age.)

Jack Ingram-Hey they’re young and they go out(he laughs). That’s the weird part as far as I’m concerned.I mean, the thing is, just in sitting here and thinking about my own career and stuff is, well, the only thing people talk about in trade magazines and stuff, whenever they’re looking for the next Big Thing, they either talk about the babyboomers or they talk about the teenyboopers. And man it’s like we’re sitting here, people my age saying,”Man who cares?”. I don’t want to hear that.I don’t want to hear about you’re latest marketing schemes, just play me some music that I want to hear! Play me some good rock and roll, play me some good country. The people my age grew up listening to Willie and Waylon and George Jones and Merle Haggard. People who had something to say man. When they hit, it stuck why because it was good. They wrote songs that people care about

(What does Jack think of the Top 40 country-pop artists now?)

Jack Ingram-Man, I don’t like dissing on other artists, because I don’t really care about them all that much. But I do know that life isn’t really about what a lot of these songs are talking about.

(Does Jack think that the powers that be in Music City are watching him and the other Lucky Dog talent?)

Jack Ingram-Oh man, I know they’re watching. Some of them are happy when we don’t sell a million records and some of them are waiting for us to sell a million records. But, I know they’re watching and I know that they’ve been watching for a few years, that’s why they (Sony) was comfortable enough to form Lucky Dog.

(How does this affect Jack and the other guys on the Lucky Dog roster?)

You know looking back on this whole subject, I’m glad that my whole focus has been on writing good songs and touring and playing clubs. Playing my songs out on-stage in front of people, that’s what spurs on the whole thing. That’s part of the reason why certain big country-op stations and the big record companies in Nashville is because they see the potential for what we’re doing to help bring about a change in country music. And man, they don’t want to come to the party late. And remember man, hey we’re not alternative country either, we’re a country band. We’re about a grassroots rock thing man. You get out there and you pinup flyers in your town and then you send them to a friend in another city where you’re going to play and then you go there and play. And guess what man? A hundred and fifty people show up to your gig. And they dig it and they understand what you’re doing. I mean I’ve gone to see some of these top 40 country-pop acts who are on mainstream radio and after my gig, I’ll go over to a club that is on the other side of town and I’ll go see an artist who has a number one hit on the radio and in a lot of cases there’s not thirty people who bought tickets to see that artist in that club on that night. It’s like, man, that’s why radio doesn’t mean anything. I mean, man I’d love to have all of that radio success, but that is not going to make or break my career.

(Has Jack gotten any positive feedback from country radio stations?)

Jack Ingram-Yeah, a little. I’ve never ruled out radio. I never, never have ruled out radio. But my point is, that if there’s no substance behind a radio hit, then you’re going to show up in that town and nobody is going to pay hard earned money to see you play. That’s what I’m talking about. The people my age, they don’t’ care if it’s a big, huge radio hit and the music and your performance is not quality, then they don’t want to hear or see it. If it’s smoke and mirrors, people my age, myself included, man I don’t care. I grew up with smoke and mirrors, I saw KISS. Anything that anybody is going to try and do like that isn’t going to impress me that much, you know what I’m saying? What I’m saying is what I focus on is my music and my show. So that when I do get that big radio hit, and I’m convinced that I will man, something is going to happen. What’s going to make or break my career is the songs I write and how well I play live and getting out and touring.

(Jack describes his music in his own words.)

Jack Ingram-My music, the way I describe it is, honest music, honest songwriting and honest delivery. No nonsense. I’ve got a four or five piece band, with two guitars, bass player and a drummer and I play my songs, you know? That’s all I can do. that’s all I want to.

(Where would Jack like to see his career go?)

Jack Ingram-The first thing is I want to make records. Ever year and year and a half, whenever I have enough songs, I want to make a record. And then I want to go and play them. When I show up in your home town, I want to go play a club or a theater that seats anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 people. I want to go do that for thirty years (he laughs). My main message is take it To The People, that’s what this is all about. I would rule out where in a few years we have some major success and we’re playing a few arenas. But the point of what I’m doing is almost like I’m a street musician.

(Jack talks about his recent gig at a Dallas area night club and the add of his single to two major radio stations in the Dallas area.)

Jack Ingram-We played this place called the Southern Junction, It’s in rock Wall, a suburb about twenty miles from Dallas. And, I’d never played there before and they have only recently started having my kind of country music (Lucky Dog roster artists), in the last six months. They were used to having house bands that play covers of Top 40 country-pop hits. So, this lucky Dog tour hit there and by the time I go up on-stage, man there was a line around the building and by 9:00 p.m., they’d sold the place out. And this is a big club, like a thousand people or more and they had to turn hundreds of people away! To go to this place was like wow! Maybe there is an audience for what we’re doing (at lucky Dog). That same week the two big radio stations there added my single “How Many Days” and Charlie’s single “My Home Town”. (The stations where KSCS- 96.3 and KPLX, they’re pretty much as Top 40 country-pop as it gets.) The thing about it is, I’ve been playing in Texas for three years now. And we’ve been selling out clubs all across the state. So that gig, in such a major market and it was a Top 40 kind of club as opposed to a rock club and with the two stations adding our single, it made me think, ‘Wow! Maybe something is really about to happen here. Something really big.’ Maybe this will be the juice to get something moving (in other markets and at other radio stations across the USA and Canada.)